The Karnataka High Court recently held that a civil court in Bengaluru has the territorial jurisdiction to hear the defamation suit filed by late singer Manna Dey's daughter against a Bengali author and a publishing company..The suit was filed claiming that the author’s book on the legendary singer contains defamatory material.A lower court had held in August this year that since the book was in Bengali and was published in the State of West Bengal, the defamation suit filed by Dey’s daughter Sushmita and her husband Jnan Deb cannot be heard by a court in Bengaluru.In an order passed on November 23, Justice HP Sandesh of High Court held that the suit can be heard in Bengaluru. Justice Sandesh took note of the the submissions made by the counsel for Sushmita and her husband, who argued that though the book was published in West Bengal and written in the Bengali, it has been circulated across India and read by people across the country including those residents of Bengaluru who can read Bengali..The dispute over the book titled Tarader Sesh Chithi by journalist and author Gautam Bhattacharya arose in 2016 when it was first published.As per Sushmita, soon after the book was published, several members of the Bengali community in Bengaluru wrote to her about some allegedly offensive and defamatory contents in the book. She verified the same and alleged that the book contained matter which was defamatory and malicious towards Dey.In February 2017, Sushmita and Jnan filed the suit filed before the civil court in Bengaluru seeking an injunction on the sale and circulation of the book.The civil court held that the suit cannot be filed in Bengaluru and the territorial jurisdiction would like with the appropriate court in West Bengal.This led to the plea before the High Court..Sushmita told the High Court that she has been a resident of Bengaluru since 1994 and since the contents of the book invaded her right to privacy, the cause of action for the suit arose in Bengaluru itself.The High Court agreed..It further said that Section 19 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) allows a plaintiff to file a lawsuit before a court at a place where the wrong was committed or at the place where the defendant is located. In the present case, the wrong which is the breach of Sushmita’s right to privacy, had been committed in Bengaluru, the High Court said.“It is specific case of the appellants that immediately after selling those books, the people who are residing in Bengaluru contacted the appellants and brought to notice of defamatory statements made in the said books and discussed the issue. Hence, it is clear that wrong was done within the local jurisdiction of the Trial Court. Section 19 is very clear in this regard and the suit is filed for the relief of wrong done to persons. It is the specific case of the appellants that the articles which have been released and sold in Bengaluru affect the privacy of the appellants but the Trial Court committed an error in coming to the conclusion that mere selling of book in Bengaluru will not cause any injury to the appellants,” the High Court said..The Court accordingly allowed the appeal filed by Sushmita and quashed and set aside the trial court’s August order..Advocates Manu Prabhakar Kulkarni and Dharmendra Chatur appeared for Sushmita and Jnan Deb.Advocate Suman KS and Umesha R appeared for the respondent-author Gautam Bhattacharya..[Read Order]
The Karnataka High Court recently held that a civil court in Bengaluru has the territorial jurisdiction to hear the defamation suit filed by late singer Manna Dey's daughter against a Bengali author and a publishing company..The suit was filed claiming that the author’s book on the legendary singer contains defamatory material.A lower court had held in August this year that since the book was in Bengali and was published in the State of West Bengal, the defamation suit filed by Dey’s daughter Sushmita and her husband Jnan Deb cannot be heard by a court in Bengaluru.In an order passed on November 23, Justice HP Sandesh of High Court held that the suit can be heard in Bengaluru. Justice Sandesh took note of the the submissions made by the counsel for Sushmita and her husband, who argued that though the book was published in West Bengal and written in the Bengali, it has been circulated across India and read by people across the country including those residents of Bengaluru who can read Bengali..The dispute over the book titled Tarader Sesh Chithi by journalist and author Gautam Bhattacharya arose in 2016 when it was first published.As per Sushmita, soon after the book was published, several members of the Bengali community in Bengaluru wrote to her about some allegedly offensive and defamatory contents in the book. She verified the same and alleged that the book contained matter which was defamatory and malicious towards Dey.In February 2017, Sushmita and Jnan filed the suit filed before the civil court in Bengaluru seeking an injunction on the sale and circulation of the book.The civil court held that the suit cannot be filed in Bengaluru and the territorial jurisdiction would like with the appropriate court in West Bengal.This led to the plea before the High Court..Sushmita told the High Court that she has been a resident of Bengaluru since 1994 and since the contents of the book invaded her right to privacy, the cause of action for the suit arose in Bengaluru itself.The High Court agreed..It further said that Section 19 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) allows a plaintiff to file a lawsuit before a court at a place where the wrong was committed or at the place where the defendant is located. In the present case, the wrong which is the breach of Sushmita’s right to privacy, had been committed in Bengaluru, the High Court said.“It is specific case of the appellants that immediately after selling those books, the people who are residing in Bengaluru contacted the appellants and brought to notice of defamatory statements made in the said books and discussed the issue. Hence, it is clear that wrong was done within the local jurisdiction of the Trial Court. Section 19 is very clear in this regard and the suit is filed for the relief of wrong done to persons. It is the specific case of the appellants that the articles which have been released and sold in Bengaluru affect the privacy of the appellants but the Trial Court committed an error in coming to the conclusion that mere selling of book in Bengaluru will not cause any injury to the appellants,” the High Court said..The Court accordingly allowed the appeal filed by Sushmita and quashed and set aside the trial court’s August order..Advocates Manu Prabhakar Kulkarni and Dharmendra Chatur appeared for Sushmita and Jnan Deb.Advocate Suman KS and Umesha R appeared for the respondent-author Gautam Bhattacharya..[Read Order]
